GARWOOD, Texas – Just before sunrise on Saturday, duck hunters will be able to take aim as Texas’ early teal season begins.
Teal is a species of duck known for its speed and recognizable blue coloring along its wings.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department waterfowl program leader Kevin Kraai said teals are the first group of ducks to make their way into the state while birds make their way south for winter.
Early teal season is big business and big money in the Lone Star State, according to Kraai.
“(It’s) to the tune of millions of dollars of positive impact to our economies across that state of Texas on an annual basis,” Kraai said.
The early teal season is a way for duck hunters to get their feet wet before the regular duck season scheduled for later in the fall.
With the soft opening of the duck season this weekend, avid hunter and outfitter Lance Stancik said he has seen flocks in his rice prairies for weeks.
“We’ve been flush with teal since Aug. 8th,” Stancik said.
Stancik is also the owner and manager of Pintail Hunting Club, in Garwood, Texas, which is located approximately two hours east of San Antonio.
The teal are on their way to Mexico and South America for the winter.
Texas Parks and Wildlife has set the daily bag limit at six. This year, however, hunters will have to abide by another limit.
For the first time in nearly 20 years, Texas’ early teal season is a week shorter (9 days from Sept. 20-28) instead of the typical 16 days.
The cause, according to Kraai: the prolonged drought. The drought has caused the teal’s population to drop.
The dry conditions are also affecting teal habitats in Iowa, the Dakotas, Montana, Minnesota and in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
These areas make up what state, national and international wildlife services refer to as the Prairie Potholes Region.
“The breeding grounds of the Prairie Canada and Prairie North and South Dakotas and, essentially, we’re seeing a response to that decades-long drought in their abundances,” Kraai said.
That response includes a decline in breeding numbers. The lower numbers trigger a threshold that enacts a mandatory reduced season.
According to Kraai, the threshold trigger is 4.7 million ducks, which is set by the two wildlife services in the U.S. and Canada.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), along with the Canadian Wildlife Service, conduct a joint population survey. If the population dips below 4.7 million, a shorter hunting season will be implemented in both countries.
According to the latest survey conducted in May, there is an estimated 4.4 million teal ducks.
“So, next year, we will be expected to have a short 9-day season again,” Kraai said.
Stancik said his clients book one year in advance and were able to shift things around to accommodate clients.
Hunters that took part in opening day as guests of Pintail arrived Friday to prepare to hit the rice prairies early Saturday morning.
On top of having do without the second week of hunting, Stancik said he has to absorb additional cost of irrigating his rice prairies to attract more teal.
“The economic downturn of that, does a person say, ‘I’m not gonna put as much water up because we’re only getting nine days?’” Stancik pondered. “My theory on that is, ‘Hey, I’m here for my life, and hopefully it’s a legacy.’”
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